This work aims to critically analyze the statement that the collaboration of stakeholders allows for choosing the most appropriate variants of innovation, using CareCom’s case as the basis.
The statement claims that the collaboration of stakeholders helps evaluate different innovation options and choose the best ones through the process of knowledge sharing. Based on CareCom’s case, one can conclude that this statement correctly outlines the benefits of stakeholder collaboration. According to Goffin and Mitchell (2017), the primary stakeholders in any organization are customers, and in health and social care, these are patients. Other stakeholders include the managers, employees, suppliers, communities, and the government. In CareCom’s case, key stakeholders involved in collaboration included general practitioners, practice-based nurses, managers, and NHS.
The kind of collaboration referred to in the statement can be described as communities of practice. Communities of practice are networks of stakeholders united by a common concern and striving to achieve a common goal. They provide individuals with an opportunity to contribute their knowledge to a common pool of ideas, thus extending organizational capacity to solve problems (Dodgson, Gann and Satter, 2008; Clegg, Harris and Hopfl, 2011). For example, in CareCom’s case, stakeholders were united by the Frailty Project and the concern about the most vulnerable patients, which led to active collaboration between them and the emergence of many innovative ideas. For this collaboration model to be realizable, the management should shift leadership down the organizational hierarchy (Hayes, 2018). Yet, communities of practice cannot be managed traditionally and need elaborate governance structures to function effectively (Newell et al., 2009). For instance, in CareCom’s case, the two-system management integrating the bottom-up and top-down approaches was developed. It allowed for generating innovative ideas through knowledge sharing while keeping innovative efforts focused on one direction.
Reference List
Clegg, S. R., Harris, M. and Hopfl, H. (2011) Managing modernity: beyond bureaucracy? Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dodgson, M., Gann, D. and Satter, A. (2008) The management of technological innovation: strategy and practice. Oxford: OUP Oxford.
Goffin, K. and Mitchell, R. (2017) Innovation management: effective strategy and implementation. New York, NY: Red Global Press.
Hayes, R. (2018) The theory and practice of change management. Basingstone: Palmgrave Macmillan.
Newell, S. et al. (2009) Managing knowledge work and innovation. Basingstoke: Palmgrave Macmillan.